There was a time when Musharraf labelled the Sharif family as ‘bhagoras’.
How ironic that karma struck him sooner than he thought.
It is the General who has been declared as a proclaimed offender and seems to be on the run.
Lack of evidence is back, with a bang. The past week was noted down as a consequential disaster in judicial history. Two major verdicts unfolded as anticipated plots of a Hollywood blockbuster. They may not have been Hollywood creations, but they were indeed blockbusters.
The short-lived, consistent, improvement in the judicial system hit a bump – a rather significant bump. Where at one time the nation was busy celebrating the ouster of the godfather, the real kingpin escaped unhurt from the wrath of accountability. The evil genius of Sindh once again managed to wriggle his way out with the swiftness and the nerve of a vicious serpent. But he is not to blame. It is the system which is at fault.
Individuals working in the institutions of our country have time and again proved that their oath of allegiance is not to the state but rather to the politician(s) behind their respective appointments. Instead of standing up to these champions of democracy, the bureaucracy facilitates them in their moral as well as financial wrongdoings. With the exception of a select few who dispense their duties diligently, a notable majority of these officials stand responsible for the erratic situation of our country.
If a politician is involved in illicit practices then it is the responsibility of the bureaucracy, rather than the establishment, to maintain order. As I previously mentioned a vacuum being present, if the civilian bureaucracy forsakes their responsibilities then unfortunately, for the country, the boots will have to step in and that’s exactly what they have been doing.
The last of the remaining references against the Sindhi genius was quashed by an accountability Court thus wiping of the final taint of corruption left.
A ray of hope which arose on the 28th of July was extinguished with 2 strokes of the Honourable pen. Firstly when Mr. Zardari was let go of corruption charges and secondly when 5 other TTP men were set free in the Benazir Bhutto murder case and only two police officers were punished for negligent duties. Such deplorable and pitiful decisions by the country’s judiciary will not help create an aura of stability and success in the years to come. In fact, the lower classes of people will lose hope, which they already have, and will consider these select few families to be outside the sphere of legality. Just because there is a different surname or even a special khaki uniform, a person remains indifferent to the laws of the land.
General Musharraf, very ironically, lectures university students on the essence of democracy and the rule of law. What he, conveniently, forgets is he himself abrogated the same law and disregarded the very Constitution he now seeks relief under. There was a time when he labelled the Sharif family as ‘bhagoras’. How ironic that karma struck him sooner than he thought. It is the General who has been declared as a proclaimed offender and seems to be on the run.
To protect the sanctity of an institution the establishment should disown the likes of these dictators and make an example out of them, rather than protecting them. Similarly, the judiciary rather than entering into a war of egoistic mind-sets, should refrain from confrontation. A better move would be to cleanse and get rid of the black sheep within. All the state institutions would command more respect if they take such steps and preserve their institutions instead of individuals within.
Reverting back to the civil bureaucracy, the corruption of our political leaders itself isn’t the actual predicament. What remains the greater problem is the lack of morality on the bureaucratic end. They tend to forget that a single signature of theirs on an official paper not only marks the future of any one governmental department but rather the future of our country. A thief looting wouldn’t be a problem if the law enforcement “enforced” the law. It, however, becomes an epidemic when the looters are facilitated by government servants.
It would have been difficult for “saien” to easily walk free had there been a robust case prepared by the prosecution to begin with. Instead loopholes were deliberately left to be filled by the evil and witty smile of the evil genius. They mock our laws, our systems and our integrity and still walk away swaying on the shoulders of the common man.
It is worrisome for the future generations when all they have seen is the sharifs and the zardaris getting away with corrupt practices and no law present to question them. In my opinion the facilitators are the actual traitors and should be charged accordingly. There should be absolutely no discrimination and tolerance especially when it comes to corruption. After all every nation in this world takes drastic steps to get rid of an existing problem. Even Pakistan currently is pre-occupied with Operation “Radd-ul-fassad” which remains the need of the hour. Simultaneously, if we were to get rid of the fasadislooting our country, that would be the actual victory worthy of even greater celebrations.
To sum it up, our judicial system which I myself was being very optimistic about remains extremely successful in letting us down. As and when required, judicial activism has always been the nuke for the judiciary and the Honourables have never been reluctant in using it as a weapon of choice. However, when it comes to decisions which would have helped shaping up the country’s future the lordships pen their dictates strictly in accordance with the procedure and set free individuals on the basis of mere procedural technicalities.
A drastic need for effective legislation and stricter laws persists. We remain expedient in promulgating the need for blasphemy laws as crucial but on the other hand are not ready to include high treason as the charge for corruption. If robbing the citizens of Pakistan and depriving them of a better life isn’t high treason, then God alone knows what is.
